Physique Swimming: Lesson 4

We first started with bubbles, Joseph has us do streamline and then we got split into two groups: beginners 1 and beginners 2. I stayed in beginner 1 with and got a new instructor, Anthony.

My biggest pain point: staying buoyant

We worked on floating.

• Fetal position, rest until still. rotate to right using left arm. Rotate toe left. Go right then stop and go other direction. 
• Rest and then slowly open body to find natural buoyancy
• My legs sink because ... too much muscle mass in the legs

I was actually able to float! Even though my legs were going down. I just had to relax, keep my belly up (engage the core) and remember to breath but don't breathe everything out. 

We then did streamline on our backs. I drank water the first two times.

• Keep your arm above water. I had it too much in the water and this created an arch that pushed my head too far into the water. 

We then did an exercise that my girlfriend taught me. One hand on board, swim. Pull with one arm. Breath. Pull with other arm. Breath (head tilt up). I did it pretty well the first time but it got harder and harder over time because:

1) I was pushing my arms DOWN which caused my legs to sink

2) I was running out of air completely so started to sink

3) My sinking legs caused me to tilt my head higher to get water. Tilting higher caused body to sink even more. Vicious cycle.

Both of my instructors said that I'm still muscling my way through the water. I'm working too hard. Need to work with the water / buoyancy. 

I need to work on:

Staying Afloat

• Breath naturally. Don't exhale completely.

Kicking

• Perform ankle stretches with Yoga Block (2 sets of 15 seconds at night and 2 sets in morning)
• Visualize quarter in butt (kick from hips)
• "A good way to think about kicking from your hips is to squeeze your bum when you kick. It's a bit crude, but imagine you have a large coin between your butt cheeks and you're trying to hold it there whilst you swim. Keep your knees relaxed and drive the kick from the hips."
• toes. Use fins and remember to keep them pointed. 
• Kick off the wall drill. Torpedo off and go as far as possible with hands out.
• More information: http://www.swimsmooth.com/kick.html

Getting more relaxed through Breathing:

• Not relaxed. Practice sink downs (http://www.swimsmooth.com/exhalation.html).
• Exhale immediately
• Exhale completely and pay attention to your threshold.